What Irked You Today?

[bamadon]

1 minute ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

It's not necessarily a drain. A single dead cell within the battery will create similar symptoms. 

I thought possibly a bad battery so I had it tested. The test showed something drawing excess power with the engine off. I'm not sure that a bad alternator as Rob suggested could cause that.

[Rob Hall]

3 minutes ago, bamadon said:

The test showed something drawing excess power with the engine off. I'm not sure that a bad alternator as Rob suggested could cause that.

Well, that is what the shop said.   It was a 600 CCA battery--less than a year old.  AAA guy that jumped said it was only putting out 89 amps and there was an 'open diode'--something draining it.  I took it to the shop, they determined the alternator was failing.  Replaced it, didn't have a problem w/ the battery after that. 

Edited October 22, 2018 by Rob Hall

[Ace-Garageguy]

21 minutes ago, bamadon said:

I thought possibly a bad battery so I had it tested. The test showed something drawing excess power with the engine off. I'm not sure that a bad alternator as Rob suggested could cause that.

A failed diode in an alternator can discharge a battery.

A stuck relay can discharge a battery, as can a failed sensor, a switch allowing the underhood or trunk light to stay on, etc.

Easiest non-spendy way to BEGIN to determine where the draw is (if you have a test light), and what I'd do to start diagnosing the problem if the car was in my own shop:

Close the car door (to eliminate getting a false-positive from the interior lights).

Disconnect the positive cable from the battery. 

Connect the test-light between the cable and the battery terminal.

IF there is a current draw somewhere, the test light will light up.

Open the fuse box cover.

Remove one fuse at a time, look to see if the light goes out, then put the fuse back.

The fuse that turns the light out will indicate the circuit, or group of circuits, where your problem is...assuming it's something straightforward.

I' you can't find the general location that way, testing the alternator (by someone who's competent) is the next step.

 

Edited October 22, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy

[bamadon]

Thanks Ace. I'll follow your advice and see what shows up.

[Ace-Garageguy]

NOTE: There WILL be small draws to keep the presets in the radio memory, and usually, the memory in the vehicle ECM. These are normal, and will often be too small to illuminate a test light.

You'll also need to take the fuse out of the interior light circuit if the fuse box is inside the cockpit, and you have to work with the door open.

Edited October 22, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy

[Ace-Garageguy]

The antics of my local PO are becomingly increasingly entertaining.

10 times in the last 60 days, packages have been left on the hood of a car in the drive, or just on the ground. I get frequent deliveries of electrical & electronic parts, and printed material. So far it hasn't rained...

More than 10 times, the tracking number online has said "no access to delivery location", when in fact, the location, my front porch, hasn't changed in 4 years...and the non-brain-dead drivers seem to do just fine.

Now there's a shipment that's dropped off the radar in a town 50 miles north of here, after having been processed through the local distribution center !! ???

I'm wasting HOURS every week chasing to the PO to get somebody to find my stuff, and to complain.

I'm told the "new" driver on the route has been warned repeatedly, and that's pretty much all they can do.

Man, I WANT THAT JOB.

[espo]

I have also experienced this mystery battery draining issue. I had to replace the battery in our '09 Wrangler. This worked fine for a couple of months and then the battery was dead one day. Went back to the auto ;arts store and they checked the battery and said it was fine. Drove and recharged the battery and it was dead again in a week. Back to the parts store and it tested good again. I should mention that in both instances I had charged the battery with a trickle charger for a few hours and then drove about 20 miles to the parts store to get it checked. The resident expert at the parts store said that sometimes the computer would drain a battery while sitting. The car isn't driven on a daily bases, so maybe. I even took it to the dealer and they were no help either. Surprise Surprise. Batteries today are not cheap so I started using a trickle charger once or twice a week in hopes that would keep it going well enough to have enough charge when I did use the Jeep. I guess I got lazy or forgot and didn't use the charger for a couple of weeks when I started wanting to drive the Jeep.  Now it started fine and has not given me any problems for several months. No one can explain how or why this has happened. I'm very carful about doors being fully closed and not doing anything that would cause electrical draining of the battery. I question the theory that the on board computer would be the cause, but it has seemed to stop. If anyone her ever finds out just what was causing their problems I hope they will share how what and why for those of use still chasing problem. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

12 minutes ago, espo said:

I have also experienced this mystery battery draining issue. I had to replace the battery in our '09 Wrangler. This worked fine for a couple of months and then the battery was dead one day. Went back to the auto ;arts store and they checked the battery and said it was fine. Drove and recharged the battery and it was dead again in a week. Back to the parts store and it tested good again...I question the theory that the on board computer would be the cause, but it has seemed to stop. If anyone her ever finds out just what was causing their problems I hope they will share how what and why for those of use still chasing problem. 

This is why I hate the perceived need on the part of car designers to run every dammed thing through an ECU now, even things that could very easily be run by TWO WIRES.

I recently had a car that was discharging its battery SOMETIMES, like you.

I eventually traced the cause to an internally-shorted brake-light switch. BUT...the short was more like a very high resistance in the OFF position, rather than a direct dead short. You'd park the car, test for current draw, nothing. Come back two days later, dead battery.

Checked every circuit in the thing, and the diodes in the alternator. Everything peachy keen.

It was a "second" car, so the owner could leave it in the shop for a while. I happened to come in one night and saw the brake lights on. Ghosts. The intermittent high-resistance short through the brake-light switch was just enough to send a signal...SOMETIMES...to the ECU, telling it to turn on the brake lights.

Try diagnosing THAT without a fair bit of luck. 

 

[Rob Hall]

My old Grand Cherokee had ghosts in the electronics sometimes.  I used to use the automatic setting for the headlights.   But then I'd be at home at night in Phoenix and see lights on in my carport through the kitchen window.  The headlights had inexplicably come on..engine off, key out of it.   Didn't use the automatic light setting after that.  

[Mike999]

Irking started Sat., when my U-verse cable box suddenly horked up the message "Please Wait."  That can mean it's rebooting but did not, since the message stayed on-screen.

Went up to the website and did the procedure for a soft recovery. That keeps any saved shows in the DVR.  It ended with a big red "X" on the screen and the number "1." The handy guide on the website said that means hard disk failure.  Ack!  OK, let's try the Disaster Recovery.  That wipes the DVR.  Big red X did not go away.

Website said, Yep, your box is dead.  Just choose your model of cable box from this handy list.  My box's model number was, of course, NOT on that list.

Gave up and called Customer Service, as usual a nice woman in Mumbai or somewhere.  She stayed on the phone with me a long time and ran thru a couple of other tricks, including a reboot from her end.  Nothing worked.  She said they would get a new box out immediately, UPS should deliver it today (Monday 10/22).  Waiting impatiently...

UPDATE: Box did arrive, booted up and worked with no irks.

Edited October 22, 2018 by Mike999
omit

[Ace-Garageguy]

44 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

My old Grand Cherokee had ghosts in the electronics sometimes.  I used to use the automatic setting for the headlights.   But then I'd be at home at night in Phoenix and see lights on in my carport through the kitchen window.  The headlights had inexplicably come on..engine off, key out of it.   Didn't use the automatic light setting after that.  

  Yup...had a client whose PT Cruiser did much the same thing...but it would turn the driving lights on whenever it wanted to, no matter what the switch position was. Dead battery in the AM. She never actually USED the driving lights, so I just took the bulbs out. Problem was resolved years later when we replaced the ECU for a (theoretically) unrelated issue. Ghosts indeed.

[NYLIBUD]

We started working on switching my heater core in my Jeep.And yes the dash has to come out.Oh man.I Put it off long enough,now Its get a bit nippy in my car..One stupid part that cost me around $25 bucks,I think,and a ton of labor just to get to the stupid part.

[NYLIBUD]

8 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

  Yup...had a client whose PT Cruiser did much the same thing...but it would turn the driving lights on whenever it wanted to, no matter what the switch position was. Dead battery in the AM. She never actually USED the driving lights, so I just took the bulbs out. Problem was resolved years later when we replaced the ECU for a (theoretically) unrelated issue. Ghosts indeed.

It's strange,last night I turned off my Jeep got out,locked the door,and noticed the brake lights were on.All three of them.Huh,I opened the door,stepped on the pedal,nothing worked,until I started tapping on the tail light.Then it finally shuts off.Has not done it since,but that's a bit odd.

[Tom Geiger]

It's interesting the electrical gremlins in newer cars.  I drive 180 mile round trip daily and now that days are getting shorter, a good portion of that in the dark. I've noticed a good many newer cars that have no back lights.  They have headlights on, and they have brake lights but no rear tail lights.  Doesn't seem to matter the make or model of vehicle.  I saw what looked like a brand new Ford van that way a few weeks ago.

[Rob Hall]

1 minute ago, Tom Geiger said:

It's interesting the electrical gremlins in newer cars.  I drive 180 mile round trip daily and now that days are getting shorter, a good portion of that in the dark. I've noticed a good many newer cars that have no back lights.  They have headlights on, and they have brake lights but no rear tail lights.  Doesn't seem to matter the make or model of vehicle.  I saw what looked like a brand new Ford van that way a few weeks ago.

I see some of that, some of those could be cars with daylight running lights and the driver hasn't realized they have to turn the headlights on at night.   That has happened to before with rental cars---like a rental Impala I was driving and the headlights themselves were the DRLs and I hadn't turned on the lights at night.   

[Rodent]

6 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

I see some of that, some of those could be cars with daylight running lights and the driver hasn't realized they have to turn the headlights on at night.   That has happened to before with rental cars---like a rental Impala I was driving and the headlights themselves were the DRLs and I hadn't turned on the lights at night.   

I was just going to say the same thing. Both of our daily drivers (16 Mazda 3 and 18 Focus Titanium) have autolamps, but I have had previous cars that have DRLs and electroluminescent instrument panels and no autolamps. If someone else drive the car, you had to remind them that the headlamps were manual.  

[Rob Hall]

Yeah, my daily driver ‘14 Grand Cherokee has the auto lamps, DRLs and electroluminescent IP.  I leave the lights in automatic on most of the time.  

[slusher]

Some of the cars you can turn off the automatic light feature..

[NYLIBUD]

Last car show for a local church near me ended.It was crowded for about 30 mins,until the rain came in,and just about everyone left all at once.

[peteski]

9 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

It's interesting the electrical gremlins in newer cars.  I drive 180 mile round trip daily and now that days are getting shorter, a good portion of that in the dark. I've noticed a good many newer cars that have no back lights.  They have headlights on, and they have brake lights but no rear tail lights.  Doesn't seem to matter the make or model of vehicle.  I saw what looked like a brand new Ford van that way a few weeks ago.

I often see that when I drive to work. It is not electrical gremlins - it is inattention of the drivers.  Like Rob says, what you see is the DRLs, not headlights.

The problem with modern cars which have DRLs but not automatic headlights is that often the gauges on the dash are illuminated at all times (not just at night).   So, unlike in the old days, when you couldn't see your gauges when the ambient light got darker, today;'s drivers see a fully illuminated dashboard and also the DRLs casting reduced-intensity light onto the pavement, so they don't have any clues that their regular headlights (and taillights) are not on.

 

Another thing that irks me is that drivers do not turn on their headlights when it is raining.  We have a law that when the wipers are on, the headlights need to be on too, but many drivers drive with no lights.  This is really dangerous during overcast days with heavy rain. If someone drives a gray or black car with no headlights, they are pretty much totally invisible (especially when they are coming from behind, and the water drops on the side windows and the water spray from the tires make things really blurry).  And of course they drive fast!  I had few close calls when I was about to change lanes not seeing any cars, but the dark asphalt-colored car suddenly showed up next to me.   I couldn't see them.

[NYLIBUD]

THAT I DIDN'T WIN THE MEGA JACKPOT..!!!lol

[NYLIBUD]

Or the PWER BALL jackpot

[Deuces]

I'm gonna quit throwing money at those lotto games... ???

[NYLIBUD]

9 hours ago, Deuces said:

I'm gonna quit throwing money at those lotto games... ???

I couldn't agree with you more.I'am done wasting money.Now my limit is going to $20,on the big ones,instead of a $100.

[High octane]

9 hours ago, Deuces said:

I'm gonna quit throwing money at those lotto games... ???

I quit that a long time ago as the odds of winning are really bad. The bigger the odds, the less chance you have to win.